Creation

Beliefs about creation can be derived from religious belief, philosophical discussion or the evidence of science. The last of these two sources provide what could be called non-religious explanations.

Plato and Aristotle both put forward first cause arguments that said that eveything has a prior cause, until you arrive back at the very first cause, which is the origin of the universe. Since the first cause had to be in some way different to its successors, this line of argument usually came back to some form of religious origin. Even pantheism, a belief system that sees God as equivalent to nature, is still a religious explanation.

The only truly non-religious explanations for creation come from science. At one stage, the universe was thought to be static - a "steady state" - and eternal. It is now recognised that our universe had a beginning, and that all substance originated from a single point. This results in the theory known as the "Big Bang". Some scientists believe that there must have been many "Big Bangs", since the circumstances for one such event could be expected to occur repeatedly across infinite space and time, and that therefore there are many universes in what they term a multiverse. However, the infinite expanse of space means that we will never become aware of other universes.

Anecdotal evidence is that almost all creationists are Christians. The majority (but not all) of creationist spokespeople appear, from their comments and discussion, to be fundamental Christians.

Sections of the creationist movement in the United States approached the courts, claiming that creationism is not about religion, but is open as to who the creator was. However, they clearly gave no credence to the possibility that the creator god, if he exists, belongs in the Hindu pantheon or perhaps the pagan pantheon, etc. The only logical answer they saw was that the creator god was the Abrahamic God. The court has held that creationism and its offshoot, Intelligent Design, are religious concepts.

Those who identify as, or can be identified as, creationists tend to take a quite literal view of the Bible. Many are 'young-earth' creationists who believe, on biblical evidence, that the earth is only a few thousand years old. Others accept the scientific evidence for the age of the earth and adopt an 'old-earth' creationist view.
For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges Darwin's theory of Evolution by Natural Selection as the likeliest mechanism for the origins of the diversity of life on earth.

Creationism is a purely Protestant phenomenon: Catholics don't have it, Muslims don't have it, Hindus don't have it, nor Buddhists,

A different Opinion

Creationism is a purely Protestant phenomenon, which is found in some. more fundamental, protestant denominations, especially in the "Bible Belt" of the USA. Roman Catholics don't have it, Muslims don't have it, Hindus don't have it, nor Buddhists, and most Protestants, especially Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists and many other denominations. While there are exceptions, they regard evolution as the likeliest mechanism, producing life over millions of years, although they generally believe that God was the creator of everything, and is still working through creation - through the means of science and evolution. ---------------------------------------------- A CHRISTIAN OPINION As a Christian, I read the Bible, and Genesis discusses creation, not evolution. I do believe in the evolution of a species (ex: the horse was originally eohippus) but I do not believe that we can evolve from one species to another. I consider myself a non-denomination Christian as the focus should be on Christ and God's Word, not on human interpretations, however I was raised in a Baptist church. I'm sure there are some who believe in evolution, but a Christian (which includes Protestant and Catholic) or Jew (Genesis is in the old testament) who studies and believes in God's word will acknowledge creation. All of the details are not listed in the Bible, but it is clear that God created humans from His own hand. As to Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists, they do not follow the Bible, so it is not unusual that they would believe differently. As a sidenote, many intellects, Christian and non-Christian are now embracing the idea of intelligent design due to advances in scientific research which make it harder to keep believing in the theory of evolution. Refer to The Design Revolution by William A. Dembski.

Umm, I think it does.

'Atheists' are a general grouping, not a specific one.

• Many have no opinion on the subject, and allow expert opinions to weigh the matter on their behalf.
• Some refuse the admission of creationism in public education as science (although private education may do what it pleases) because it is inherently unscientific and in many places, illegal to do so. Evolution is accepted because of its scientific support.
• Others make acceptance for creationism taught in religious classes, which is fair enough.

According to the Bible, God always was. Which means he never had a beginning, OR an end, he just was. If you believe in God, you dont believe in evolution. We believe in adaptation, but not evolution. And if you believe in evolution, you dont generally believe in Jesus. Therefore, i believe that God came first.

ANSWER:

The answer can vary depending on exactly how you are using the terms "Jesus" and "evolution".

If by "Jesus" you mean the Son of God then, since He is eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus came first.

If by Jesus you mean the man Jesus of Nazareth whom the Son became and by evolution you mean the process by which life developed, then evolution came first.

If you mean Jesus the man and evolution the theory developed by Charles Darwin then, since Jesus lived over eighteen hundred years before Darwin, Jesus came first.

Kent Hovind is a self-described "Creation Scientist."

An ultra-conservative Christian and former science teacher, he lectures on his beliefs of Creationism as well as the Hovind Theory, which entails everything from the story of how we got here to what made the mountains and oceans and where did the dinosaurs go?

Due to tax fraud, Kent Hovind was brought to court many times. After lying several times under oath, the jury found him guilty on all 55 charges brought against him and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, as well as various fines. His wife was sentenced to one year in prison and more fines.

He has a website: http://www.drdino.com/

And is on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hovind

Religious responses to the science of evolution are varied. The Dalai Lama has said that just as Buddhism searches for the truth, so does science, and if Buddhism needs to adapt to new scientific theories then it will. At the other extreme, biblical literalists continue to teach that the world is too young for evolution to have occurred. Although the Christian Churches were almost unanimous in condemning Darwin's Theory, this has since changed and some of the modern Christian responses include:

• The Catholic Church has now reacted favourably. Pope Pius XII stated in his encyclical Humani Generis (1950) that there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith and that he considered the doctrine of "evolutionism" a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal to that of the opposing hypothesis; Pope John Paul II, in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (1996), said that new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis; Pope Benedict has refused to endorse "intelligent design" theories, instead backing "theistic evolution" which considers that God created life through evolution with no clash between religion and science.
• The Episcopal Church has said that the theory of evolution does not conflict with Christian faith. In 2006, the General Convention affirmed, via Resolution A129, that God is creator and added that "the theory of evolution provides a fruitful and unifying scientific explanation for the emergence of life on earth, that many theological interpretations of origins can readily embrace an evolutionary outlook, and that an acceptance of evolution is entirely compatible with an authentic and living Christian faith." The Church encourages the teaching of evolution in schools.
• The Church of England is considering the possibility of apologising posthumously to Darwin, for its earlier condemnation of his theory

Creation

Evolution

Cause

God was the Cause

For every effect, there is a cause (observable)

There was not cause - 15 billion years ago for no know reason, the universe exploded itself into existence. Time, chance, and natural process created all things.

The creation of the universe is an effect with no cause (not observable).

Origin

The universe was spoken into existence by God's Word.

Matter cannot be created or destroyed by natural processes (observable).

Began with 'singularity', a tiny infinitely hot and dense point

Matter was created by a natural process (not observable).

Energy

We are devolving

Energy goes from a state of usable energy to less usable energy (observable).

We are evolving

Energy goes from a state of less usable energy to more usable energy (not observable).

Space

Earth created first (day 1)

Stars came afterwards (day 4) with the sun and moon.

Stars formed first

Earth formed afterwards

Earths

Covering

Water

Fire

Time Constraints

6 Days - The creation of the World was FINISHED in six day and is no longer taking place (observable).

Infinite Time - 4.6 billion years ago the earth evolved by natural processes. The world is in a continuous process of creation evolution (not observable).

Quality

Very Good

Primitive, Violent

Planning of

Life

By design

Accident

Origin of

Life

God

Life comes from life (observable), no known exceptions.

Forces of Nature

It is possible for life to come from non-life (not observable).

Time needed

for Life

2 Days (Faith based) - all animal/human life was created on day 5 and 6.

Millions of years (Faith based) - They don't know how it happened but given enough time they BELIEVE it will.

Species

Kind begets kind (observable).

Kind begets some other kind (not observable).

Animal Life

Birds first, then

Reptiles

Reptiles first, then

Birds

Human Life

Man was created on day six

Man is made in the image of God.

3.5 billion years ago life evolved

Humans evolved from ape-like creatures.

Beginning

of Death

After Adam sinned, not a process of creation - it is a product of man's sin.

Always been present, part of the creation process - the means by which man evolves into a higher being.

Cause of

Death

Sin, there was no death before Adam sinned (plant life not included), the breath of life was breathed into animals but not plants.

Natural process, existed from the beginning of life

Spiritual

Death

Both physical and spiritual, you will give an account of your life after you die.

Physical only, no accountability after death.

Sediment Layers,

Canyons

Form rapidly (liquefaction). Witnessed during Mt. St. Helen (observable).

Form slowly. No evidence witnessed (not observable).

Fossil Creation

Catastrophic event, rapid burial in water, (observable).

Buried by dust over long periods of time (not observable).

Marine fossils on

Mountains

Global flood, Genesis account

Rapid 40 day/night event

Springs of the deep broken up

All creation perished

All mountains covered by at least 20 ft.

About 200 legends from cultures all over the world.

Local floods, earth sinking into the ocean and rising again.

No written record or legend

Trees through

layers

Fossilized trees spanning many layers indicates rapid burial by water, observable with Mt. St. Helen. Can be created in one week (observable).

Over many years plant life died, sank into the earth, and coal formed (not observable).

Coal, Oil,

Petrified

Wood

Coal, Oil, Petrified Wood, can all be made in a matter of weeks, (observable).

Coal, Oil, Petrified Wood take millions of years to form (not observable).

Biblical Day

Recognize that the Biblical day means 24 hours and accept it as fact

Hebrew word "Yom", in all cases, means short period of time

defined to be evening and morning

days are distinguished between seasons and years (Genesis 1:14)

God's own word (Exodus 10:11)

writing style of Genesis is narrative, not poetic

genealogy of human race given

Some, recognize that the Biblical day means 24 hours but reject the account as a myth.

Others, interpret the Biblical definition of day to mean millions of years.

Creationism is usually associated with a belief that the world was created only a few thousand years ago, much as it is today, and that evolution played no part. This belief is not universally held by all Christians.
Many Christians, while believing that God created the universe at some stage in the past, do accept that the world is billions of years old and that evolution resulted in the development of all living things. Even the Catholic Church has moved towards this position:

• Pope Pius XII stated in his encyclical Humani Generis (1950) that there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith and that he considered the doctrine of "evolutionism" a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal to that of the opposing hypothesis;
• Pope John Paul II, in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (1996), said that new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis;
• Pope Benedict has refused to endorse "intelligent design" theories, instead backing "theistic evolution" which considers that God created life through evolution with no clash between religion and science.
  

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

• 15 Jesus is risen

Background to 'The Stations of The Cross"According to the Christian Tradition, after Jesus was condemned to death by crucifixion, he was ordered to carry his cross on his back to the site of crucifixions, at Golgotha, otherwise known as Calvary, situated outside the walls of the 2nd Temple City of Jerusalem.
All four Gospels tell of the trial before the High Priest and his being led to Pontius Pilate who, as Roman Governor had sole rights in law for Capital punishment. They describe the events between his being brought to the Praetorium (House of Roman Government) and his crucifixion at Golgotha.
The Roman Catholic church divided the route into its current 14 "Stations of The Cross".
Throughout Christian history, there have been traditions regarding the route to the crucifixion and the events that surrounded it, however, from the 14th Century the tradition has been more concrete on the ground, fixing events to known points of the current Old City of Jerusalem, called the "Route of Christ's Torment", or in Latin, The Via Dolorosa.
The route is strewn with chapels and small churches for its entire length, culminating in the Church of The Holy Sepulchre (tomb) at Golgotha, the site of Crucifixion, death, burial and Resurrection.
Each station describes a specific event deemed significant en the route of "suffering and torment".
Many parishes in Europe held similar Easter traditions of re-enacting the final route of Jesus, and as a natural result of this, the stations in Jerusalem were established primarily as a necessary answer to the needs of pilgrims, seeking to tread in the footsteps of their Lord on his final route.
The development of the route, tying events described in Gospel to actual sites and subsequent construction of the chapels and churches on these sites (stations) has been overseen by the Franciscan Order. Since the expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land, this Order has had an exclusive mandate from the Pope to oversee the safekeeping and development of all Holy Sites in the Holy Land. The order was basically responsible for pioneering the return of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land from the 14th Century onwards.
Only 3 out of the 14 stations signify events actually mentioned in Gospel, the additional 11 stations are the result of legend and tradition, but developed in order to deepen and dramatize, adding spiritual and emotional depth to the Pilgrims' experience, with emphasis on the suffering, by treading the route.
Most noteworthy of these examples is the 4th Station, where a cross-bearing Jesus meets his mother. It is noteworthy that whilst Christian scripture in John 19:25 mentions Mary's presence at the crucifixion, there is no mention whatever of her presence on the "Route of Torments" prior to this, but has been marked out as a development of the scripture story by the Franciscans.
The rationale behind this is simple, as the role or "greatness" of Mary is not much lower in Catholic tradition, that that of the Son of God Himself, signified for example, in her ascendance to heaven, something worthy only of Jesus and Elijah.
A further example is the story of the 6th Station. Here, Veronika, a 'maiden of Jerusalem', taking pity on the perspiring, suffering Jesus as he strains to carry His Cross towards the hill of Calvary, steps forward and wipes His sweat-covered face with a handkerchief, leaving an imprint of his complete face in the material.
Her name is a direct extrapolation of the event - Vera Icona - meaning "true image" in Latin.
Whilst it is true that the event at this point is absent from Scripture, it can be seen as a development of a mention in Luke 23:27-30, which describes Jesus conversing with the maidens of Jerusalem, who wail and lament as they join the masses following His route, developing into a procession. It is not impossible to then interpret from this mention, that one such girl, taking pity on His pain, decided to do her part to ease it by wiping His brow or His face.
The remaining Stations of the Cross all relate to events specifically mentioned in the gospels as having taken place on that journey.
For example, the 5th Station, where Simon of Cyrenia has to step in and participate in the efforts of Jesus in carrying the Cross.
To summarise the sources of the positioning of the stations, the whereabouts of the beginning and end of the route had to be taken as a given consensus:
v Pontius Pilatus was the Roman Governor of Jerusalem, who lived in Caesarea, which was the Roman administrative centre for Judea. His presence in Jerusalem is easily explained, as the events leading up to the betrayal and subsequent trials and crucifixion take place in the days leading up to the Passover, one of the 3 main "Foot", or Pilgrimage festivals for the Jews. For such a festival, Jerusalem would be inundated with tens to hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims, who would journey to observe the Temple rituals surrounding the festival.
v In order to 'keep tags' on sources of political trouble or disturbances, it would be prudent for the Governor, accompanied by a military force, to take up residence in the Jewish city at such times.
v Caesarea was a mixed pagan-Jewish-Samaritan city, one where a Roman governor, with his own pagan temples and Roman city life, would feel more at home and significantly, safer.
An obvious place to take up residence and establish his government Praetorium for times like this, when the Governor was resident in the city, would be the huge Fortress of Antonia, which King Herod "the Great" had built for the exact purposes of:
- protection of the Temple Mount it was adjacent to;
- positioning on the (then) outer northern walls providing access routes independent of the city streets; and
- as a safe refuge in the event of an insurrection.
v The positioning of the Antonia fortress is a known factor, much of its foundations remained at surface level well into the Middle Ages and would have been either visible, or distinctly known to be at the North West corner of the Temple Mount.
v The final point on the Route of tribulations of Jesus, being the site of Crucifixion and close-by burial is the Golgotha (Calvary), which is situated outside the walls of the 2nd Temple City, as is necessitated by Jewish Law, by which the city was governed, which proscribes emphatically either execution or burial of the dead within the confines of the City Walls. It is also a burial site, as can be seen by an intact 2nd Temple catacomb aside one of the crypts in the Holy Sepulchre Church, traditiinally credited to being the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Upon this basis of two sites seen as unequivocally proven, the Franciscans constructed their route, a route designed to commemorate the events, from the trial, to the conviction, leaving the Praetorium, taking a cross on which to be crucified, carrying it to the site of crucifixion, death on the cross, burial and rising from the dead - all among the most significant and defining events in Christianity.

1. Mount of Olives
2. Gethsemane
3. Peter in Gallicantu
4. The Citadel (Jaffa Gate)
5. And from there to the Holy Sepulchre